I give meter readings each month, why is my bill still based on estimates?

Hey @Amerififer,

Welcome to the OVO Online Community,

@BPLightlog and @Jeffus have already given some helpful advice here. Just wanted to add, we calculate your billing from the meter reads received from the smart meter itself, not the IHD. If you feel the readings shown online are too high or there is a dramatic increase in usage but no changes in behaviors, it may be that there is a faulty meter in the property or that the meter is clocking too fast. 

I received an email from OVO titled: “Important: we’ve underestimated your energy use” and it explains that

“Unfortunately, when we used your most recent meter reading to update your energy account, it’s shown that we’ve been underestimating how much energy you use.
This means your bills have been incorrect since 30/10/2020, and we’ve been billing you for less energy than you’ve actually used.

… we won't ask you to make any more payments for energy you used over 12 months ago … We’ve also recalculated your energy use for the last 12 months.

This means you now have a negative balance of £xxx.”

I am not sure what this means, as I often give actual meter readings, including one a few days ago. So most of my bills have been accurate, and if they had been estimated, then the recent reading would have resulted in a very large bill to catch up.

I have photographs of the meter every single time I gave a meter reading, so I can prove that my readings are accurate.

I realise that there is nothing further to pay right now, as OVO have written off what they thought was an underestimated cost.

I pay via direct debit and have a normal meter (not a smart one).

But can someone from OVO please explain why I should have paid more despite giving accurate meter readings?

I’d recommend double checking with Support, they can see the account whereas we can’t from here. https://help.ovoenergy.com .

You can double check what meter readings are on your account @Electro and see if they match up to what you have details for. 
It’s worth keeping check to see that they don’t use estimates too often. 
https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings

This question was asked 6 years ago, but I’ve had exactly this same problem as of March/April 2023. Also change of System, in April 21st 2023 £2000 debit from £350 credit. How does that work?

We’re already answering this in your own thread. Please check there.

I am new to OVO and from my short time with them I am convinced they are the worst energy supplier in Britain

3 months ago they told me that due to my electricity usage IO would be in deficit for over £16000 pounds

They have done me a favour and reduced the estimate to only £4500 meaning that they want the DD to go  from 206 to 597 a month

I live in a modest 3 bed house and despite sending them monthly readings they refuse to listen to me and have told me lies that the amount will not increase and the estimate submitted was in error

Has anyone had this problem?

The figures you’re seeing look truly alarming.

The estimates used to calculate your Direct Debit are based on the numbers in your plan. If you post a screenshot of your Plan page, we may be able to see why they are so inflated. 

One of the figures on that page is the Future Annual Consumption (FAC). Since you have been submitting regular monthly meter readings, you should be able to work out how much electricity you used in the past year - just subtract the reading for July 2022 from the one for July 2023 to get a good idea. Is this very different from the FAC?

Another factor in the DD calculation is the state of your account. You can see today’s balance on the Home page; if it’s negative, the DD will be increased to pay off the deficit over the period. 

Meanwhile, have a look at Getting to grips with the Direct Debit Calculator on your online account or OVO app | The OVO Forum to see how your DD is worked out.  You’ll also find a lot of information about your usage on the other pages of your online account.

since February total electric consumption is 825kw

account balance today is +£351 !

I have tried to relay these facts to their rep via chat but the message does not register

Those figures don’t help to explain why your predicted costs and Direct Debit are so high. We have to see your plan details, along with your energy consumption for the past year.